


Looking Brighter

by FestiveFerret



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Confessions, Dancing, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Flirting, IN SPACE!, M/M, Polyamory Negotiations, Secret Relationship, Secrets, Space Summit, V-shaped Poly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26662456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret
Summary: "I'm going to kill Clint," Tony said when he walked into the suite and saw the single bed.Steve burst into laughter behind him. "They're trying to be nice, Tony.""They couldn't have been nice with a fruit basket or something?"
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 21
Kudos: 515
Collections: Stuckony Summer Stocking 2020





	Looking Brighter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [veteratorianvillainy (skeptics_secret)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skeptics_secret/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [veteratorianvillainy (skeptics_secret)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skeptics_secret/pseuds/veteratorianvillainy) in the [stuckony_summer_stocking_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/stuckony_summer_stocking_2020) collection. 



> I decided to go hog wild with your fake relationship prompt. Hope you enjoy!

"And this is Metahydrox of Andalorians," the Guide muttered in Tony's ear.

"Lovely to meet you," Steve said. Only the pinch at the corners of his eyes betrayed his stress as he tried to figure out which tentacle was the appropriate one to shake. 

Tony resisted the urge to smirk, knowing it would set Bucky off, and shook the tentacle he was offered. "An honour."

The Guide worked them down the line of dignitaries, performing an official introduction in each one's native tongue (or tongueless throat-holes, as the case may be) while delicately translating for the Avengers. As special guests of the Intergalactic Summit, they had the high privilege of greeting each of the two-hundred and seventy-eight dignitaries that made up the summit in person.

Tony was so hungry that the potted plant in the corner was starting to look tasty, and he wasn't entirely sure it wasn't also a guest. He also hadn't had a chance for a good cuddle with his secret boyfriend in three days, what with the planning and the meetings, and flying to California before they left, and then eight hours cramped in a spaceship with the whole team in order to get here in the first place. But the rooms on the Orca were supposed to be unparalleled and he'd managed to wrangle his and Bucky's close together and far, far away from the others, where a little bit of giddy night time sneaking would go unnoticed. 

"And last, of course -" 

Tony cheered silently.

"- we have your gracious hosts, the Ethiowalisand." The Guide bowed at a collection of gangly, pale blue aliens who at least had face-like bits in approximately recognizable places. The team followed the Guide's lead and bowed too.

"Thank you for inviting us," Steve said. 

"It's an honour," Tony added, feeling he ought to say something as co-captain of the team.

The Ethiowalisand chittered out a bunch of meaningless formalities, which the Guide rapidly translated, then asked them how the flight was. 

"It was fine, if you ignored Mom and Dad bickering the whole way," Clint said brightly.

There was a muttering of confusion and consternation, and then the Guide said, "Humans mate for life and the mate pairs are called "Mom" and "Dad" by their offspring."

Tony opened his mouth, feeling like a grave miscommunication was about to occur, but it was too late, the Ethiowalisandwere clearly excited. The Guide turned to Tony and Steve and bowed. "They'd like to congratulate you on your mate pairing."

"Um," Steve said.

"Thank you," Tony gritted out, knowing in these kinds of cases it was usually best to just go along with it instead of offending people by making it seem like you lied. Clint was sweating, and Steve's expression was one of a man watching a slow-motion car crash. Tony couldn't look at Bucky. He knew if he did, he wouldn't be able to control his expression, and Bucky had already bet him fifty bucks he wouldn't make it through the weekend without outing their relationships. 

"They want to give a gift to you. In honour of your new union."

"Oh." Tony smiled his media smile. "Lovely."

Steve laughed nervously, and Tony felt Bucky shift closer to his back. 

"A special room!" The Guide exclaimed with a grin. "I think you call it the Honeymoon Suite?"

Everything was going great.

**

"I'm going to kill Clint," Tony said when he walked into the suite and saw the single bed. 

Steve burst into laughter behind him. "They're trying to be nice, Tony."

"They couldn't have been nice with a fruit basket or something?"

Steve laughed again, and Tony preened at being able to make him make that sound. It was easy to get a sensible chuckle out of Steve, less easy to get a full-chest laugh. 

Steve tossed his bag on the dresser and unzipped it. "You ever think about it?"

"About what?" Tony poked his head in the bathroom and the closet. 

"Getting married."

Tony stilled with a handful of bizarre alien candies from a bowl. "Me? Nah. I dunno. Who would I marry?"

Steve shrugged with an easy smile, and Tony almost wished he'd say  _ Bucky,  _ because hiding this always made him more uncomfortable around Steve than anyone else, and he wasn't entirely sure why.

"Maybe someday," Tony added softly. "So what's on the docket?"

"Meetings from two until six today and then dinner with the Sovereign. Tomorrow is all day meetings and then the gala at seven."

"Ah, right." Tony opened his own case and unfolded his garment bag. "The shindig. Which we are going to be married at."

Steve tipped backwards onto the bed, arms sprawled. "These meetings are going to be horribly boring, aren't they?"

They were.

Tony tried to pay attention but it was mostly padded political nonsense. The Avengers were all in the same section, Steve beside him and Bucky behind him, and Tony felt like they were all staring at him the whole time, even though he knew they weren't. He needed to talk to Bucky, needed to make sure he was okay with all of this. Of all the downsides to being a secret they'd considered, they'd never considered this one. Or at least, Tony hadn't. 

And it was so much harder that it was Steve. Steve, who Tony had been nursing a crush on for years. Steve who Bucky adored. Steve who  _ everyone  _ adored. Tony had to somehow manage two days of pretending to be dating Steve Rogers, all while not making his actual but secret boyfriend too jealous, and  _ also  _ without accidentally revealing that Steve kinda had a way of setting off butterflies in his tummy.

Tony faked it through the meetings and went back to the room with Steve after dinner. But while Steve was showering, Tony slipped out and went down the hall to Bucky's room. He knocked softly, and a moment later the door swung open to reveal a shirtless Bucky, one eyebrow quirked up, hand braced against the door frame. "And how are you this fine evening, Mrs. Rogers," Bucky drawled.

"Shut up." Tony slipped into the room, and Bucky shut the door behind him. "Are you okay? Are you overcome with jealousy? Have you planned Steve's murder forty times?"

Bucky snorted. He backed Tony up against the edge of the bed and ran his fingers back through his hair, thumb stroking over Tony's cheek. "I am okay. But I've missed you all day."

"This is absurd," Tony mumbled. He let his hands fall to Bucky's hips. "Steve thinks it's funny."

"It  _ is  _ funny." Bucky tipped their foreheads together. "You looked like you were going to pass out when they mentioned the Honeymoon Suite."

"Well. I have a virtue to protect." Tony flopped backwards on the bed, and Bucky crawled over him. "What if Steve has expectations?"

Bucky nudged his nose with his. "Tell him you have a headache." Bucky finally pressed their lips together and Tony sighed, his whole body melting into the mattress. He curled his arms around Bucky's waist, fingers hooking into the band of his pants. 

"God, I missed you."

"So you said." Bucky kissed him again then rolled to the side to prop himself up on his elbow. "Are  _ you  _ okay? You seem more stressed than I expected."

"I - I don't know? I think so. Sure." Tony turned his head to face him. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"It doesn't bother you that everyone thinks Steve and I are married?"

"Course not," Bucky said with half a shrug. "Plus there's the added bonus of Clint having a complete breakdown over it which I am thoroughly enjoying. I think he's going to wash your cars when we get back, totally unprompted."

"I thought you might be jealous."

Bucky laughed. "Starting to think you want me to be."

"Well maybe a  _ little  _ bit," Tony admitted, fluttering his eyelashes. "Like maybe you want to remind me who I belong to, huh?"

"Now  _ that  _ I can handle." Bucky rolled back over to press Tony into the sheets.

**

"'Where've you been?" Steve asked when Tony returned to the room an hour later.

"With my mistress," Tony quipped. Sometimes the best lie was the truth. "Done with the shower?"

"All yours." Steve was sprawled on the bed in his pajamas with a book in hand.

Tony scuttled into the bathroom before Steve could notice how rumpled he was and stepped under the hot spray of the shower. He had to admit it, the honeymoon suite was pretty damn nice. Fresh and clean, Tony returned to the bedroom to rifle through his bag until he found boxers and a t-shirt to sleep in. He'd been expecting to spend this trip sneaking into Bucky's room at night and therefore wearing nothing at all, but at least he had something he could pretend he'd brought as PJs on purpose.

Steve politely averted his eyes while Tony changed, even though they'd been naked on the quinjet together probably a hundred times. When Tony was as decent as he could ever manage, he climbed up on the other side of the bed and stretched out flat, closing his eyes. "Those meetings were dull as shit."

"It's a preliminary summit," Steve said charitably. "Give them a chance to be a little ceremonial this time, and next time we can focus on the meaty stuff."

"Oh god.  _ Next time."  _ Tony winced. "Does that mean we have to play house every time we come to one of these things for the rest of forever?"

Steve chuckled. "Is it so awful being married to me?"

"Absolute torture. How am I supposed to pick up a hot alien babe if they all think I'm taken?"

"I'm sure we can stage an amicable divorce."

"The Guide said humans mate for life. They'll be devastated. They're probably all in their suites looking up David Attenborough documentaries so they can see adorable humans in their natural habitat, mowing lawns and cooking Hamburger Helper. We'll break their hearts."

"Guess you'll have to forgo the hot alien babes, then, Tony."

"Alas." Tony dug around for his phone and started scrolling aimlessly through his email.

"Um. Tony? I have a weird question." Steve's tone had twisted serious.

"Uh. Okay." Tony set his phone down.

"You and Bucky have gotten pretty close over the last six months, haven't you?"

_ Oh, shit, he knows.  _ "Uh. Sure. You could say that."

"I just…" Steve sighed. "He and I don't really talk like we used to, and, well, I miss him. So I was thinking I'd ask him if he wanted to spend some time just me and him, um -" Steve paused, and Tony's chest ached around the arc reactor, knowing where this was going. " So I just - Well, I was thinking. Do you think he'd be okay with that? I don't want to push him."

_ Well, sure, by all means, Cap. Ask out my current secret boyfriend while simultaneously being my "one who got away." and my fake husband. Great plan. _

"Sure. Yeah," Tony tumbled out in a mess. "Sure. I think that's a great idea. Go for it. Good plan." Good, god, Bucky was going to kill him.

"You don't think he needs more space?" Steve asked

The hard part was that Tony  _ knew  _ Bucky missed Steve back. "Nope. He misses you too, Cap. You should talk to him."

Steve brightened a little. "Oh, ok. Wow. Thank you."

"Sure…" Tony set his phone aside and snuggled down under the covers. He could feel warmth radiating off of Steve beside him and it lulled him into sleep long before Steve clicked off his bedside lamp.

**

Tony woke to the door opening the next morning and Steve stepping in, sweat soaking his shirt to his skin. Tony groaned. "You found a gym on a spaceship?"

"Course I did. I have pent-up energy." Steve stilled abruptly, like he'd said something he didn't mean to, then made a sharp left turn into the shower.

The bed was soft - softer than Tony's desk which was his usual sleep spot - and still warm even though Steve must have gotten up over an hour ago, so he dozed off again while Steve showered and got dressed then hauled himself up and stretched. 

Bucky managed to snag a seat next to Tony for most of the day, and whenever things got too boring or too inane, he'd tap the heel of his shoe against Tony's, and Tony would have to hide his smile behind his hand.

That evening, in the rush to get ready for the gala, Tony managed to sneak a few minutes with Bucky, but before he knew it, he and Steve were walking into the ship's ballroom, arm in arm, smiling politely to all the gathered delegates. Drinks and small talk took them through the first hour, but when the band started up and the middle section of tables was cleared, Steve held out his hand to Tony. "A dance for your husband?" He smirked.

"Sure thing." Tony let himself be pulled out onto the dance floor and into Steve's arms. 

Tony could feel Bucky's eyes burning a hole in the back of his neck, but he focused on not tripping over his feet as Steve tucked them in between the other couples. There was a brief scuffle while they tried to figure out who would lead then an awkward pause while they adjusted to the closeness of their hold. Tony cleared his throat and on the next beat they set off, spinning as gracefully as they could manage among the either dancers. 

"You're a good dancer," Steve said, and Tony barely held back a sigh. Now they had to make small talk or risk it being even more awkward.

"My mom made me take lessons when I was a kid. Society thing."

"Ah." Steve chuckled. "She probably never thought you'd put them to use dancing with Captain America in outer space while attempting to diffuse a potential intergalactic incident, huh?"

Tony couldn't help his smile. "I doubt it. Some parts of that would be more surprising than others, though." 

"I'm sure," Steve said idly, eyes cutting over Tony's shoulder. 

Tony scrambled for something to say, but he couldn't think of a single topic that didn't sound stupid even inside his own head.

"Tony?"

Tony craned his neck to look at him and found Steve blushing to high heaven. "Yeah?"

"This… this has actually been kind of nice. This weekend. I - uh. I had a good time." Steve leaned in a little closer, eyes going wider. "I-" His chin tipped down and his eyes went with it, jumping down to Tony's mouth.

Tony tried to keep from going tense in Steve's arms. Shit, was he going to kiss him? Tony didn't know what to do. They were supposed to be pretending they were together so ducking out of a kiss would be a terrible move, but what was Steve thinking?

"I -" Tony blinked, not moving any closer.

Steve's cheeks flushed bright pink and he gracefully twisted so he was hugging Tony closer instead of kissing him, keeping up the show for their audience. He leaned back then, relaxing his hold.

Tony realized they'd both stopped moving, and he stepped briskly out of Steve's arms. "I'm hungry."

"Um." Steve's face fell. "Right."

Tony blasted his way over to the buffet table, pointedly not finding Bucky's eyes in the crowd. He reached out for anything edible and stuffed what looked like a bright blue doughnut into his mouth and started chewing. It tasted sort of like shrimp.

"I'm sorry," Steve muttered, right at his shoulder.

"It's fine."

"I just got caught up in the moment."

"I said it was fine." Tony smiled, at a nearby platypus alien.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

_ A little too late for that!  _ Tony sing-songed in his head. Tony turned until his face was nearly pressed against Steve's shoulder. "For the love of all that is holy please stop talking about it and get me a drink." He leaned back again. "Darling," he added, for good measure.

"Of course," Steve shuffled off, tail between his legs, and Tony watched him go morosely. If only he could tell him  _ why  _ he was rebuffing him. It wasn't really because he wanted to. He'd always had feelings for Steve. He was  _ Steve.  _ But Tony was with Bucky now, even if no one knew about it, and it wasn't like he was going to mess with that. He loved Bucky. More than he thought he could love someone, and despite the two of them flirting with the idea of bringing someone else into their bed, once in a while, it was all just pillow talk. And surely the very last person Bucky would want sharing Tony was his dearest, oldest, and most complicated friend.

"Tony," a low voice growled in his ear and Tony nearly crawled right out of his skin.

"Good  _ god,"  _ he hissed. "Between the two of you, I'm going to need  _ so much  _ Xanax when we get back on earth."

Bucky was scowling. "What's wrong?"

"What's  _ wrong?"  _

"Yeah. What'd you guys talk about? You looked like you wanted the floor to swallow you whole."

"I'm on a spaceship, eating shrimp doughnuts, pretending not to be in a relationship with my actual boyfriend while pretending  _ to  _ be in a relationship with my co-captain who is acting  _ very weird about it.  _ I know I give off the impression that I always have my shit together, sweetheart, but surely you know me better than to believe that facade."

"Of course I do." Bucky tapped Tony's elbow with one finger like a sneaky kiss. "But it's Steve. You guys are best friends. You love each other. This shouldn't be hard."

"Steve is…" Tony looked around and caught sight of Steve's back by the bar. "Steve is being weird. He was, like, asking me about asking you out one minute and then trying to kiss me the next and -"

"Wait. Come with me. This room is all ears." Bucky led Tony away from the buffet table and through the crowd.

"No kidding," Tony muttered. "Pretty sure that one guy is literally made of ears."

A small hallway led them to a "balcony" hidden behind a soft, plush curtain. It was a clear dome, jutting out into space, surrounded by stars. The floor was clear too, and if you stood deep inside the dome and closed the curtain, it was like you were just about ready to float away. Tony stared for a moment, caught up in the awesome beautiful of the galaxies around them.

"Steve said he was going to ask me out?"

"What?" Tony turned back to Bucky.

"You said Steve said something about asking me out? That's not right." His brow furrowed.

"Yeah he was all 'blah blah I miss him' and 'blah blah I want things to be how they used to be,' all gorgeous and sad and doe-eyed."

Bucky snorted. "Yeah, babe, he was talking about our  _ friendship  _ not being what it once was. I'll admit, it's been hard, reconnecting after so long apart, after both of us have changed so much. I didn't even get a chance to get used to him being big before the train. The guy I grew up, shared everything with… I don't know if I know him anymore." His voice went low and soft. "I think that's what he was talking about."

"Oh." Tony pressed up against Bucky's chest, wriggling closer until his arms parted and wrapped around Tony's waist. "That makes more sense."

Bucky quirked an eyebrow. "He tried to kiss you?"

"Pretty sure." Tony squirmed. "Awkward…"

"Hmm."

"What?"

"Just that Steve wasn't one to take a chance on things like that, back when I knew him. He wouldn't go for something if he wasn't getting vibes. Unless he's changed a lot more than I thought."

"Uh…" Tony could feel his cheeks heating. "Well, we have been pretending to be dating for two days so…"

Bucky was still and quiet.

"Plus, you know. He's Captain America."

"What does that mean?"

"Well…. I have a little crush on him," Tony admitted quietly. "Always have. Almost got up the nerve to ask him out when you kissed me that day on the landing pad."

"Really?"

Tony leaned back so he could see Bucky's face. He cupped his jaw, stroking one thumb over his cheek. "I'd like to make it abundantly clear that you were not a consolation prize. I had a thing for both of you and you were the one who made a move. And I love you. I won't give you up for anything." He kissed him gently and felt Bucky smile into the kiss. "But since Steve doesn't know we're together, and he does have the power to fluster me a bit, I can see how he might think I was vibing, just saying. But I love you."

"Well that explains a lot," came Steve's voice from the curtain, and Tony and Bucky sprung apart like they'd been shocked. Steve was leaning against the door frame, the curtain curling dramatically around his statistically improbable shoulders. 

"Shit," Tony said, with feeling. 

"You two are together." Steve slipped inside the balcony dome. "How long?"

"Six months," Bucky said. He raised an eyebrow at Tony. "You owe me fifty bucks, babe."

"Unfair! It wasn't my fault!"

"So many things are suddenly making sense." Steve's brow was furrowed and Tony braced for anger, but then he smiled. "I'm glad you have each other. I think it's great."

Tony let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "So when you were talking about asking Bucky out before -?"

Steve started. "What? No. I meant like - friends. Like I miss how close we were. We used to be…"

Bucky released Tony and stepped closer to Steve. "I miss you," he said plainly. "I know we're not the same people we were but surely with this much history between us, we can figure it out? It's weird not having you right there at my shoulder all the time. And sure, you're not quite shoulder height anymore, but that doesn't matter. I've changed too…" Bucky shrugged his metal arm, shifting with discomfort. 

Tony chewed his lip, trying to subtly give them emotional space in the cramped dome. 

"Buck.." Steve reached out and hooked Bucky by the back of the neck and drew him in. Bucky's arms wrapped around Steve, both their faces disappearing into the other's shoulders. They stood that way, bound together, grips tighten enough to whiten their knuckles, for a long time.

Tony's heart swelled with feeling. He knew how desperately Bucky missed Steve, and that Steve got a sad, wistful look in his eye whenever he talked about before the war, with Bucky. It ached in the best possible way to see them finding their way to each other again. He thought about sneaking out and leaving them to it, but they were standing between him and the curtain edge and he wasn't sure crawling out under their legs would end gracefully.

Then Bucky stepped back, giving Steve's shoulder another squeeze, and his eyes were bright and a little damp. Steve's cheeks were pink when he shot Tony a smile. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Uh. Between us."

Tony narrowed his eyes at him. "Okay so wait, if you weren't asking Bucky out after all, then what was your reason for trying to kiss me?"

Steve went even pinker. "Oh. Well. I… like you? Obviously, I thought you were single -" he nodded towards Bucky in apology "- which is the only reason I made a move. But the last few days, pretending to be your boyfriend, well, they were pretty great. So I thought I'd go for it. But of course you're taken. So… well, I hope it's not awkward, is all. I'd hate to lose you as a friend."

"Shit, no, of course you won't lose me as a friend," Tony said, something painful twisting in his chest. It was fine, before, when he had no idea Steve liked him back, but now this felt almost like a break-up in a weird way, and it  _ hurt.  _ The loss of what could have been. But it wasn't like he'd trade what he had with Bucky. He was happy with him, yet he still mourned what could have been with Steve, at the same time. It was a weird, uncomfortable feeling. 

An awkward silence fell over the three of them for a moment, then Steve backed up towards the curtain. "I'll, uh, leave you alone, then. Now that I know everything's okay. I'll say you were feeling tired and went to lay down, Tony. goodnight, Buck."

"Wait!" Bucky flinched towards him, and Tony snapped his gaze to him. Bucky looked genuinely perturbed, which didn't seem to be the right feeling at all. "Can you… Can we just -" He looked at Tony, almost in desperation for a moment, but Tony didn't know what he was getting at. "Steve, can you meet us back in your room in twenty minutes? I just need to talk to Tony about something."

"Uh, okay?"

"Thanks." Bucky grabbed Tony's sleeve and dragged him off. 

Tony threw one confused shrug back towards Steve then let himself be led. But even in the safety of Tony and Steve's room, Bucky remained silent. "You're freaking me out a bit, sweetheart," Tony mumbled.

"Sorry." Bucky wiped his hand over his face. "Okay, so, when you say you have a crush on Steve… if you and I weren't together, would you have let him kiss you today?"

Tony opened his mouth to snap out an answer then paused, forcing himself to think about it. "Yeah. I would have."

"So, if I said  _ I  _ was okay with it if you kissed him, would you do it?"

Tony imagined leaning in when Steve had pressed towards him, closing his eyes and letting their lips meet. "Yeah, who wouldn't?"

"Okay." Bucky took a breath. "Cause I am okay with it. So you should."

"Wait, what?" Tony took a stumbling step back. "I thought we were talking hypothetically like - like would you let Orlando Bloom rim you in the elf getup? Are you being serious?"

Bucky sat down on the edge of the bed. "I - I've been trying to bring this up for a while, actually, but I didn't know it was Steve, which is obviously, well, perfect."

"Bring this…? Did you think I had feelings for someone and wasn't telling you?" Tony asked, horrified.

"No! No, of course.  _ I've _ had feelings I wasn't telling you about."

"For Steve?"

Bucky barked out a laugh. "Stop trying to get to the end before I tell you, genius. Come here."

Tony sat down beside him, confusion feeding uncomfortable uncertainty. "Okay. Sorry. Tell me."

"I like the idea of a three person relationship. I always have. I get this feeling when I see people I love being loved by other people. Back in the day, I used to go on these dates, two women… I wasn't really interested in them, but they were interested in each other, you know? And we played it like a double date, sometimes with Stevie there, but I just liked the idea that they were having a good time with each other. And now I have you, and I love you, and I love being with you, and the idea of seeing you being loved by and loving someone else too, especially someone I care about as much as Steve… it feels good."

That was one of the longest speeches Tony had ever heard Bucky give so he paused, biting his tongue, to give it the contemplation it deserved. "You're saying you're giving me the green light to date Steve, not to give me something I want, but because it would make you happy?"

"Yeah. I mean, only if you want to, of course. I'm saying you  _ could.  _ You said you'd kiss him if I said it was okay, well… you can. And if I know Stevie as well as I think I do, I think he'll say yes, too."

"And you mean just a kiss? Or actually date him?"

"For me, I was thinking actually dating. A relationship. Like, a three person relationship. If all you wanted was a one night thing, I'm not sure I'd be down for that."

Tony nodded slowly. 

"Do you have feelings for Steve?"

Tony met Bucky's eye, let himself consider that maybe it was just physical attraction and not emotional, and disregarded it. He nodded again, heart stuttering in his chest.

"When he comes here, I want us to ask him. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. Wow. Okay. Really? You're sure?"

Bucky's smile bloomed, the ones that made Tony feel dizzy and giddy at the same time. "I wouldn't bring it up if I weren't. I know it's weird timing, but seeing you two dancing together, I just - I know I should feel jealous or something but -"

"Hey, hey. No 'should.'" Tony squeezed his hand. "You feel whatever you feel, sweetheart. If this makes you happy, well, shit. Sounds like a dream come true to me."

There was a soft knock on the door. Tony met Bucky's eyes, thrilling in the excitement he saw there. "Come in!" Tony called.

Steve slipped in the room and closed the door behind him, frowning at both of them with stressy uncertainty. "Everything okay?"

"Yes," Bucky said, and Tony could hear the laughter in his voice.

"What are you…?" But Steve was smiling now, apparently caught contagious by Bucky's good mood.

"Steve, you remember when we used to go on those double dates and I told you how nice it was to watch the ladies having a good time together?"

"Yeah..."

"I'd like to see you and Tony like that," he said matter-of-factly.

Steve opened then closed his mouth.

"Bucky thinks you and I should date for real," Tony added with a grin. "If you're into that. And for what it's worth, I'm super into that."

Steve's hand reached out, seemingly of his own accord, and landed on Tony's shoulder. "Really?"

Tony and Bucky both nodded. 

Steve blinked. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'd be really into that." He turned to Bucky. "You and me both dating Tony?"

"Mhm. He's pretty great, isn't he? I want to watch you getting to love him too. I want us to share that."

Steve stared blankly across the room.

"Steve?" Tony nudged him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just… I'm pondering the likelihood of some kind of low-gravity induced, space hallucinations."

Tony shuffled a little closer. "I could pinch you? Cause it's real." 

Steve's gaze cut to his, warm and brimming with emotion. He stepped closer too, his arm snaking around Tony's waist. Then he looked over at Bucky. 

"Kiss him," Bucky said softly. 

Steve's arm tightened around Tony's waist and he tipped against his chest. Steve's other hand came up to cup his jaw. "Is that okay?" Steve whispered.

Tony nodded. 

Steve didn't kiss like Bucky. Bucky kissed like he had all the time in the world to strip Tony bare and find every touch and press and stroke that would take him to pieces. Steve kissed like the world was five seconds from ending. He pulled Tony in and licked his way into his mouth with a desperate sort of moan. He kept backing off a little and then, when Tony pressed deeper, Steve leapt back into action seeking out every inch of Tony at once.

When they parted, Bucky was the first to speak. "Wow."

Tony turned to him, cheeks hot and head spinning. "Okay?"

"Perfect."

"Steve?"

"Yes."

Bucky stood and crossed the room, snuggling up against Tony's back, and Steve beamed at him over Tony's shoulder. Bucky pressed his lips to the back of Tony's neck then moved to shuffle past him. "I'll leave you guys alone tonight. Maybe we can all have breakfast here tomorrow?"

But Tony's chest tightened at the thought of Bucky alone while he spent the night with Steve. "Is it -? Could we all stay here together? Is that weird?"

"It's not weird to me," Steve said. "Bucky?"

"Really? Cause I don't mind you two having tonight. You've got catching up to do."

"I've got catching up to do with both of you," Steve said, catching Bucky's sleeve and drawing him in close. "Stay." 

"Okay."

They orbited around each other as they got ready for bed, all three sneaking kisses and touches and glances. Tony snuggled down in the middle and a super soldier pressed in on either side. "Well," Tony said to the ceiling.

Bucky laughed. "You okay, babe?"

Steve made a strange noise against Tony's shoulder. 

"What?"

"I can't remember the last time Bucky called someone 'babe'?"

Tony grinned. He took one of each of their hands and folded them over his stomach, winding his fingers through theirs. "Tell me about all the other times he has."

"Wouldn't you rather hear about the time he fell off a dock in front of a priest, two hookers, a cocker spaniel, and his landlady?"

"Yes."

Bucky pressed his forehead against the side of Tony's face until he could feel his warm breath on the side of his neck. "This," Bucky said, laughter in his voice, "was an absolutely wonderful idea."


End file.
